Jul 28th 2016 | Whistles and Taters.🍬🍬

Your Japanese candies are almost there! This email explains what was in the box, so it could be a bit of a spoiler.

The items in the box are: Coris Whistle Candy and Baked Sweet Potatoes

Coris Whistle Candy

These sweet semi-hard candies look like normal candy rings, but they make a sharp whistle noise when you blow through the ring. That makes them the perfect treat for signaling your comrades during a secret mission in hostile territory. Or just annoying your friends. Whatever. Whichever comes first! Included is a small toy that you can use to distract your cat while you take pictures of candy.

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Baked sweet potatoes are a Japanese delicacy. You can find almost everyone from super markets to convenient stores baking sweet potatoes. One of my first memories in Japan was hearing a Yaki-imo (Japanese for sweet potato) truck blare its music (Ya-ki imo! Ya-ki imo!) as it slowly made its way down the road.

These trucks have ovens baking sweet potatoes in the back and you can expect your neighborhood to smell quite heavenly when one rolls through. Since your neighborhood probably doesn't have a sweet potato truck, we've sent you a bag. These soft sweet potato morsels are individually wrapped, making them perfect for sharing or keeping fresh if you decide to hide them away from your friends and family.

This past week I spent vacation in the Philippines with my girlfriend. We visited Dumaguete and Siquijor specifically. While I had a great time, the amount of garbage and tourists trashing pristine beaches was disheartening.

There are also a lot wild dogs in the Philippines, and as an animal lover it brought me down. At one point we went to a beach for a picnic and I ended up using all the food to feed the wild dogs that came up to me. Wow. That's really sad. Here is a shot of me taking a serious moment to contemplate it.